Best Books on Preaching:
A Baker’s Dozen of My Favorites
Kevin DeYoung
ver the last 25 years, I have read dozens of books about
preaching. I have learned something from almost all of them.
Tere are many excellent resources out there, and even when I may
not agree with the author’s theology or his overall method, I can still
glean nuggets of wisdom and inspiration. My estimation of “best” is
admittedly subjective. “Favorite” is probably more accurate. For all of
us in ministry, a favorite book is ofen determined by when we read it
and what we needed to hear at the time. And that’s undoubtedly true
with the thirteen entries below.
I have not included standard textbooks like Haddon Robinson’s
Biblical Preaching and Bryan Chapell’s Christ-Centered Preaching. I
have benefted from both books, as I have from David Helm’s much
shorter “textbook,” Expositional Preaching. I’ve also not included
general pastoral works that have wonderful sections on preaching
(e.g., Spurgeon’s Lectures to My Students or Charles Bridges’s Te
Christian Ministry, or Te Book of Pastoral Rule by Gregory the Great).
My list is based on a very imperfect and somewhat impressionistic
measure: I distinctly remember where I was when I read this book
and how it helped me or challenged me or inspired me.
I won’t try to rank these books from “least favorite favorite” to
“favoritest.” Instead, I’ll group them in several diferent categories
and include a few sentences about each.
Books I Have Read Several Times
1. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Preaching and Preachers. If I could
only read one preaching book for the rest of my ministry, it would be
this one. I ofen tell young men that if they can read Preaching and
Preachers and not feel a burning to preach, then I’m not sure they are
called to be a preacher.
2. John Piper, Te Supremacy of God in Preaching. I frst read this
in seminary and then read it another two or three times in my frst
few years of ministry. Piper now has a much bigger book on preaching
(Expository Exaltation), but this earlier and shorter work still directs
my preaching Godward as few books do.
3. J.C. Ryle, Simplicity in Preaching. Tis book—a pamphlet
really—is the shortest on this list, but the practical advice is invaluable.
Ryle doesn’t call for simplistic sermons or push the preacher away
from tackling complicated topics. But he does issue a reminder many
of us need: preach so that people can follow and understand what you
are saying.
Books about the Theology of Preaching
4. James Tompson, Preaching Like Paul: Homiletical Wisdom
for Today. I frst read this during the hazy, crazy days of Emergent.
Tompson argues persuasively that even (or especially?) in a post-
Christian world, preaching still needs to be propositional, discursive,
theological, and authoritative. Preaching as story-telling will not
sufce.
5. Jonathan I. Grifths, Preaching in the New Testament: An
Exegetical and Biblical-Teological Study. Te big idea: preaching
in the New Testament is a unique form of word ministry—not
identical with teaching, bearing witness, or sharing the gospel—to
be carried out by qualifed, commissioned, and authorized men.
Grifths sees New Testament preaching as inheriting the model of
Old Testament prophetic ministry.
Classic Books
6. William Perkins, Te Art of Prophesying. Not a long book and
still practical afer more than four centuries. You’ll also get a favor
for the method and the heart of Puritan preaching.
7. James W. Alexander, Toughts on Preaching. I hope someone will
reformat and republish this nineteenth-century work, or at least the
opening section of 166 “homiletical paragraphs.” I haven’t read a more
challenging and thought-provoking book on preaching in the last ten
years than this one.
8. John Stott, Between Two Worlds: Te Art of Preaching in the
Twentieth Century. Tis was one of the frst preaching books I ever
read. As you would expect from Stott, it’s full of order, insight, and
wisdom—not only for preaching but for being spiritually formed as
a preacher.
Books by Sort-of Evangelicals
9. Phillips Brooks, Te Joy of Preaching. Te Episcopalian Brooks
was a “broad churchman,” but these classic lectures from 1877
are well worth reading. Brooks calls for frankness, manliness, and
preaching as “truth through personality.”
10. James S. Stewart, Heralds of God. As a twentieth-century
Church of Scotland minister, Stewart can be a bit dodgy on the
atonement, but he knows how to speak about the glory and the
power of preaching. First published in 1946, this book can still
inspire the preacher to be a “herald” and not merely a conveyor of
religious truth.
More Recent Books
11. Albert N. Martin, Preaching in the Holy Spirit. In this short
book, the well-known Baptist preacher directs our attention to a
much-needed and sorely neglected topic.
12. Alec Motyer, Preaching? Simple Teaching and Simply
Preaching. An infuential Irish Bible scholar, Motyer distills a
lifetime of teaching experience into an eminently readable and
insightful book.
A Book for the Preacher’s Heart
13. Lewis Allen, Te Preacher’s Catechism. Using the Westminster
Shorter Catechism as his inspiration and (loose) guide, Allen goes
through 43 questions and answers designed to remind the busy/
distracted/discouraged/pufed-up/cast-down preacher about what
really matters (and what doesn’t) in a life of faithful ministry.
"For all of us in ministry, a favorite book is ofen
determined by when we read it and what we
needed to hear at the time."
10
D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones,
Preaching and Preachers
John Piper,
Te Supremacy of God in Preaching
J.C. Ryle,
Simplicity in Preaching
Best Books on Preaching